Mononoke

The "Medicine Seller" is a deadly and mysterious master of the occult who travels across feudal Japan in search of malevolent spirits called "mononoke" to slay. When he locates one of these spirits, he cannot simply kill it; he must first learn its Form, its Truth, and its Reason in order to wield the mighty Exorcism Sword and fight against it. He must begin his strange exorcisms with intense psychological analysis and careful investigative work—an extremely dangerous step, as he must first confront and learn about the mononoke before he even has the means to defeat it.

The Medicine Seller's journey leads him to an old-fashioned inn where Shino, a pregnant woman, has finally found a place to rest. The owner has reluctantly placed her in the last vacant room; however, as she settles in, it quickly becomes clear that the room is infested by a lethal band of mononoke, the Zashiki Warashi. With his hunter's intuition, the Medicine Seller begins his investigation to discover the Form, the Truth, and the Reason before the Zashiki Warashi can kill again.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

The main protagonist of the series, Kusuriuri, was first introduced in "Bakeneko," the final chapter of the Ayakashi: Japanese Classic Horror anthology series. Mononoke was originally broadcast during the NoitaminA programming block in Japan.

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Related Anime

Adaptation:	Mononoke, Mononoke: Umibouzu, Mononoke: Zashiki Warashi, Mononoke: Nue
Prequel:	Ayakashi: Japanese Classic Horror
Alternative version:	Mononoke Movie

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Kusuriuri

Main

Sakurai, Takahiro
Japanese

Man in Fox Mask

Supporting

Midorikawa, Hikaru
Japanese

Kayo

Supporting

Yukana
Japanese

Umizatou

Supporting

Wakamoto, Norio
Japanese

Ochou

Supporting

Kuwashima, Houko
Japanese

Shino

Supporting

Tanaka, Rie
Japanese

Yanagi, Genyousai

Supporting

Seki, Tomokazu
Japanese

Genkei

Supporting

Nakao, Ryusei
Japanese

Oyou

Supporting

Ikezawa, Haruna
Japanese

Sougen

Supporting

Namikawa, Daisuke
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Shibata, Hiroaki

Producer

Umezawa, Atsutoshi

Producer, Storyboard

Takeeda, Yoshinori

Assistant Producer

Nakamura, Kenji

Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

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Opening Theme

"Kagen no Tsuki" by Ryouta Komatsu and Charlie Kosei

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Ending Theme

"Natsu no Hana" by JUJU

Reviews

Jul 26, 2023

Cayusashi

Recommended

Mononoke is an anthology series following the Medicine Seller's side hustle of exorcizing demons. Each of the mononoke are pulled from Japanese folklore and are only dispatched after the Medicine Seller discovers their shape, truth, and reason.

Being an anthology series, there's obviously no overarching plot. Each arc is 2-3 episodes and introduces an entirely new cast except for the Medicine Seller. The stories within the episodes follow mostly the same formula where the setting gets possessed by a mononoke and 1-2 people die when the Medicine Seller mysteriously involves himself and figures out what's going on. Trying to follow some of these episodes as they're ... happening is genuinely impossible. There's so much symbolism, metaphors, and dialog and they can all give different interpretations of what's going on. It might not be until the next episode when things actually start to make sense. During a few of these episodes I was the most confused I've ever been while watching anime, but during others I was able to follow along and figure out what was going down. This is a show that highly benefits from multiple watches, but this review is for a first time viewer. That being said, there was only 1 arc I actually didn't like. Usually when everything is explained all of the pieces click together into the coherent story it's trying to tell. You will still have to read through the lines and come up with your own thoughts, but part of the fun for some people is comparing your interpretation with others.

The characters from arc to arc range in quality, but the Medicine Seller always remains consistent. The Medicine Seller is a calming presence in the midst of the chaos. If he undergoes any growth I didn't notice it. The implications in the finale might not have been something he would have done in episode 1, but again, everyone has different interpretations. The characters from arc to arc are surprisingly well developed for their limited screen time. Each arc tends to focus on 2-3 characters for development with others fleshing out the setting or being there to die. I particularly enjoyed the leading women in the first and third arc and found their stories and development to be the most intriguing.

The animation is some ove the most stylized in any anime. It's a 2.5D show, but still looks like it's drawn directly onto the screen. The Medicine Seller's character design is amazing and his transformation is cool every time. The symbolism in the animation is always there. Camera shots are chosen with care and reason. It's beautiful through and through. The art alone makes Mononoke worth watching. The music is good but the opening and ending aren't to my personal preference. They are still good songs, just not for me. The music and sound are also used to great effect for building tension in the scene.

Overall, I enjoyed Mononoke despite how confused I was for more than half of it. The anthology style is done well, characters are surprisingly well written, the art is gorgeous, and the music is pretty good. I think there's something here for anybody who wants something fresh and different from any other anime.

Plot: 9/10
Characters: 8/10
Animation: 10/10
Sound/Technical: 8/10
Enjoyment: 8.5/10
Overall: 8.7/10

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Apr 4, 2023

CujosCastle

Recommended

Mononoke was a beautiful mess that has stuck with me in my everyday life, one of the few anime's that I would claim has transcended the genre as a whole.

Façade, façade, façade.

The medicine seller would be the mediator of the river of lies if there was one. The characters were extremely fleshed out and very purposeful. Everything you see plays a part. This is one of the MUST WATCH titles for supernatural genre fans. The art-style is an extreme but fitting choice for the intended emotion.

The Anime >The Manga

Mononoke has been playing through my head reel for nearly 4 years ...

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Gift

Aug 26, 2023

Panda_Roll

Mixed Feelings

In 2006 a short series called (Ayakashi: Japanese Classic Horror) aired with only 11 episodes and consisted of three stories. The first two were classic Japanese plays by notable authors, The last story however was an original tale about a mysterious medicine seller that goes around exorcising mononoke / evil spirits.

The writers of the show must have been proud of their creation because a year later we got Mononoke. A spin off staring that same medicine seller and with the same art style.

While the show itself is fine the SUPER busy art style, combined with the aggressively bright colors and the jump-cut style of animation... ...

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Synopsis

Background

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